


Tell It Like It Is

by magicianlogician12



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-08-30 04:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16757695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianlogician12/pseuds/magicianlogician12
Summary: The first time Kira saw Lio’ah’s eyes on Tython, she thought they simply looked…honest.





	Tell It Like It Is

The first time Kira saw Lio’ah’s eyes on Tython, she thought they simply looked…honest.

Maybe not the usual first thing one noticed about a Sith padawan, but hey–Kira figured she wasn’t really in much of a place to judge. They were deep amber, and clear, and so very, very honest. Kind of pretty, really.

Kira’s mouth engaged before her brain caught up and, at Master Kiwiiks’ side, blurted out:

“You made short work of this bunch. You ever leave survivors?”

Which only made it that much worse when those amber eyes flashed with hurt and a kind of desperate…something. “I didn’t come here hoping to kill someone.” she snapped, hands clenching and unclenching into fists at her side.

“Look, I…I didn’t mean that, all right? Mouth got ahead of my brains.”

Lio’ah’s lips pursed slightly, but she accepted the apology, and her eyes were clear. Bright and warm, but still so closed off. “It’s fine.”

It was meant to sound sincere, she knew, but Kira could tell the difference.

* * *

Kira was all for a good damsel-in-distress story, but less so when  _she_  was the damsel in distress.

Coruscant’s security forces had responded as quickly as they were able, and the fact they were Jedi tended to open doors more quickly than normal, but it was clear they’d been outmatched from the start, and it begged a very important question: why not just overwhelm them?

Black Sun had the numbers, Kira could see that plain as day. Instead of rushing their position, though, they merely kept the Republic forces where they were, not intending to wipe them out, but keep them back. Their shots were almost lazily aimed their direction as long as they weren’t trying to rush the barricades, but as soon as they tried to gain ground, they fought like their lives depended on it. Which, Kira thought dryly, they kind of did.

A deep hydraulic sound alerted her that the elevator behind them was arriving with new passengers, and Kira rested a hand on her dualsaber as the door opened to reveal Lio’ah, deep red braid bouncing cheerfully behind her, a sharp contrast to the tension in the hangar, and lightsaber already in hand.

“Hope you weren’t here for the next flight,” Kira joked, jerking her head towards the docking bay, “we’ve had a few traffic delays.”

Lio’ah rolled her eyes, nearly yellow in this lighting, but a grin played at her lips and she said, “Traffic delays, huh? What’s the word on Doctor Tarnis?”

“They won’t hand him over, but we can’t gain any ground.” Kira gestured towards the barricade of Black Sun firing off a few pot-shots every few moments, just to keep them on their toes. “We try to move up, suddenly it’s a shooting gallery.”

Lio’ah’s gaze zeroed in on the middle of the barricade, and almost before she’d even started to reply, she was striding forward, ready to ignite her saber. “I can fix that.”

“Whoa, hey, not saying you can’t, hero” Kira darted around until she caught up and could lay a hand on Lio’ah’s upper arm, stilling her, “but that doesn’t mean you have to go in there  _alone_.”

Lio’ah regarded Kira’s hand on her arm for a moment, apparently not sure what to say, but nodded once, jerkily. Kira couldn’t help but feel she’d misstepped somehow, and barely managed to restrain a deep sigh of frustration.

“I’ll take the middle of the barricade and break a hole in their line.” Lio’ah was already moving as she said it, barely looking back to make sure Kira was following, which, good thing she  _was_. “Ready?”

“Yeah, I gue–” Kira was cut off by Lio’ah’s flying leap across nearly twenty meters of space to land in the midst of the Black Suns’ barricade–they barely had time to shout a warning before her lightsaber slammed into the ground, Force energy radiating out from it with enough force to send most of the thugs to the ground.

When Kira entered the fray, the two made quick work of the rest of the barricade, and the Coruscant security forces ran up to reinforce the position. Lio’ah’s grin was faint, but it was there. “Let’s go save us a doctor.”

And Kira grinned too, because honestly, what better time? “Right behind you, partner.”

Lio’ah stuttered slightly and the look in her eye said  _shock_ , but her grin, growing as wide as Kira’s, said  _pleased_ , and it was more genuine than Kira had seen from Lio’ah yet.

* * *

It felt wrong to see the sky through the open dome of the destroyed Jedi temple, like standing in a tour ship’s panoramic window and seeing only stars beneath her feet, feeling as if she should be breathing vacuum, not air.

A prickling sense of unease gripped Kira’s chest, and Lio’ah was strung tightly enough to nearly be vibrating where she stood with tension. It felt too silent, too empty, aside from the Imperials she could sense even from here.

Lio’ah stood silently for longer than felt comfortable, though, and Kira nudged her absently with one elbow. “Hey, Kira to Lio. You still in there?”

Lio’ah jumped slightly and held her elbows in both hands, a defensive gesture. “Yes, I’m here. I’m sorry.” she looked down at the temple floor, scattered with rubble, beneath her boots. “My aunt was here. A long time ago. I still sense her, though.”

“Oh.” Was it insensitive to point out that Lio’ah’s aunt had probably been at least partially responsible for the temple being torn down? Probably.

Still, Lio’ah looked as though she’d just been gutted, and it felt wrong to say nothing, but Lio’ah solved the problem for her by shaking her head a little and saying, “It’s fine. We should go.”

 _It’s fine,_  said so much like she’d said it on Tython, not at all convincing, but probably intended to be.

For once, Kira didn’t have a witty quip to offer in return, and followed Lio’ah through the shadows of the ruined temple.

* * *

After Uphrades, the ship was silent and grim. Kira could feel waves of misery all but radiating from Lio’ah’s quarters aboard the ship, and given her proximity on the bridge, made it all but impossible to ignore.

Finally, Kira got up and quietly turned off the communications monitoring equipment that had become her latest source of aggravation and boredom. She wasn’t sorry to break away from it for a while.

She went down to the ship’s supply area first and found several boxes of the dried noodles she’d insisted Lio’ah stock up on while they were on Nar Shaddaa. Lio’ah had seemed exasperated and intrigued in equal measure by the request, but hadn’t found time to try it yet. Kira figured it was high time to fix that.

Noodles in hand, Kira went to Lio’ah’s quarters and found them open. Poking her head in, at first she didn’t even see the room’s single occupant, and was about to say something when one of the room’s shadows, cast by the lowered lighting,  _moved_.

Kira had been able to sense Lio’ah’s distress for hours, of course, but had no idea what to  _do_  about it. Lio just didn’t  _get_  that wound up–though ‘wound up’ was an understatement for what Kira could sense–but Kira was tired of sitting on the bridge, feeling useless while her friend sat alone, in the dark, probably hungry, definitely miserable.

Lio’ah had shed her armor hours ago and left only a simple tunic and leggings, her deep red hair taken down from its braid and left to cascade down her shoulders and back in a crimson wave, still slightly clumped with dried sweat. In the low light, her amber eyes almost seemed to be lit from within, a subtle kind of glow that mirrored the room’s lighting almost perfectly.

They watched one another in silence for a few beats before Kira held up the slightly steaming bowl like a pass to enter. “Figured you might want something.”

“I’m not hungry.” Lio’ah traced a nonsensical pattern on the floor with one fingertip. “But thank you.”

Kira shuffled in place, but she couldn’t just  _leave_ , not like this. Instead she came to sit down beside where Lio’ah had pressed herself against the wall like she was trying to merge into it. She said nothing, and Lio’ah’s eyes, dark and empty, gave nothing away, but she did lean down until her shoulder rested against Kira’s, and Kira marveled at how  _warm_  Lio was.

“You’re warm.” Kira remarked, to fill silence, to hopefully get  _some_  kind of reaction that wasn’t this cold, closed-off silence.

It partially succeeded; Lio’ah’s lip twitched up into something that tried to be a smile. “I’m glad you approve.”

“Hey, scoot up.” Kira gave Lio’ah’s shoulder a nudge, and Lio’ah arched a brow, but complied, and Kira shuffled until she knelt at Lio’ah’s back, setting the noodle cup down conveniently where Lio’ah could reach it, before gathering her dark red hair into a single bundle.

“Um.” Lio’ah fidgeted where she sat. “What are you doing?”

“Braiding your hair, what does it look like I’m doing?” Kira separated Lio’ah’s hair into three sections, draping two of them over Lio’ah’s shoulders while she combed through them with her fingers–no time to go hunting for an  _actual_  comb.

“Oh.” Lio’ah’s shoulders were tense, Kira noted, but not out of discomfort–more surprised than anything, she thought. “You don’t….you don’t have to do that.”

“Well, I want to, how about that?” Kira pushed the bowl on the floor a little closer to Lio’ah’s hand, making her subtle hint a bit less subtle. “I’m not gonna hurt you, you know.”

“I know.” Lio’ah turned her head, then, and it was only because Kira hadn’t started braiding in earnest that she didn’t protest, but Lio’ah continued, “I know that. It’s fine, Kira, really, I’m–”

“You know, you keep saying that.” Kira said mildly when Lio’ah turned her head back to face the front, and she began braiding the long, thick sections of Lio’ah’s hair. “And you keep saying it in a funny way.”

“What do you mean?” Lio’ah asked, more cagey than before.

“You say it like a liar.” Kira poked Lio’ah’s ribs with her free hand and Lio’ah gasped in response before it turned into a halfhearted  _giggle_.

Lio’ah made no attempt to argue the point, but she did take hold of the bowl of noodles to hold it in her lap, and Kira called it a win.

Several moments passed in silence before a thread of tension left Lio’ah’s shoulders with a faint sigh, and she said, “My aunt defected at Coruscant.”

Kira didn’t lose her place in Lio’ah’s hair, but it was a near thing. “Come again?”

“My aunt Ismali–she defected at Coruscant.” Lio’ah shook her head a little, and Kira held onto the section of braid she’d completed. “I never got the details, just that the family disowned her after her former master ended up conveniently captured by the Republic shortly after.” Lio’ah’s voice turned quieter as she continued, “I left the Empire four years after to try and find her. Is it selfish to say that’s probably why I defected, too?”

Lio’ah wasn’t exactly the type to leap headfirst into that kind of thing without thinking about it, Kira thought. Not usually. “She was pretty important to you, then.”

It wasn’t a question, but Lio’ah confirmed the answer anyway. “She was  _everything_  to me. The only member of my family that actually cared about  _me_ , not about my future place in the power structure.” Lio’ah pulled her knees up to her chest and held them there with both arms wrapped around her legs. “I left the Empire for selfish reasons, but I like to think I stayed because I could make a difference here.” Lio’ah scoffed slightly. “Instead I got an entire planet’s worth of people killed.”

“ _You_  didn’t kill them.” Kira finished the braid and tugged on it lightly.

“Maybe not, but they’re still dead because of me.” Lio’ah hugged her knees tighter. “If I’d been faster–”

“We could exchange ‘what ifs’ all day, you know.” Kira pointed out, shifting so she sat next to Lio’ah again. “But I don’t think it’d help.”

Lio’ah’s breath choked a little, but in the end she just leaned down on Kira’s shoulder again. “No, I guess it wouldn’t.” She reached out and tentatively poked Kira’s knee. “Are  _you_  okay?”

Kira considered. “No.” she replied honestly, “but I will be, I think.”

“Thank you.” Lio’ah said suddenly, and surprised them both.

“For what?” Kira asked. “Bugging you about food and playing with your hair?”

“I don’t know.” Lio’ah told her after a moment’s consideration. “Just…thank you. For being here.”

Kira let out a breath and leaned into Lio’ah’s warm shoulder. “You too.”

* * *

From the first day Lio’ah’s ship had been overwhelmed with the Emperor’s forces and her crew taken prisoner, Kira had fought relentlessly to get free.

It never seemed to matter–they were trapped, with no real way to escape, not even when they were taken out for interrogation–but Kira fought anyway, because doing anything else was unthinkable. She fought because Lio was here somewhere, because the Emperor was still out there somewhere too and she’d be  _damned_  if he stuck his stupid fingers into Kira’s life any more than he already had.

The first time Kira saw Lio’ah on the Emperor’s space station, though, she remembered how the sudden wave of loss had cut through her with enough force to buckle her knees.

Lio’ah was not bound, not cuffed, and not, for all appearances, a prisoner–not until Kira looked into her eyes, those deep amber eyes with their subtle, lighthearted glow, that seemed to almost change color depending on the light.

Her eyes had been blank, vacant, and soulless–devoid of anything that made Lio, well,  _Lio_. Kira had seen it and had known that her pleas for Lio’ah to  _snap out of it, dammit, we have to go!_  had fallen on deaf ears.

In her shock, Kira had been brought back to the cells each of Lio’ah’s crew members had been dropped into, and she’d cried.

Every time after, it was the same–even if Lio’ah was across the damn room, even if Kira only saw the tail end of her dark red braid as she turned a corner, Kira called out for her anyway, because she  _had_  to still be in there, somewhere. If she was a prisoner in her own mind, there had to be a way to break the compulsion, and Kira was going to damn well find it.

“You realize you’re wasting your time, right?” Kira drawled at the Sith who secured the bonds keeping her on the interrogation table. “This isn’t exactly–”

Lio’ah rounded the corner and stepped over the threshold, and Kira’s words were choked off by shock. “I am reporting as instructed.” Lio’ah said, in her flat, disinterested monotone, and the Sith present nodded.

“You know your task.” the Sith waved a hand at the controls nearby, and folded his arms. “Get to it.”

Lio’ah turned away so her face was out of sight, but looked Kira in the eyes, and she could have wept again with some kind of relief as Lio’ah  _winked_ , actually winked with the faintest grin at the corner of one side of her mouth, and said in her monotone voice, “The equipment is malfunctioning and needs repairs,” but with the kind of compulsion to it that Kira could sense even from here, that subtle, nigh-unnoticeable shift in the Force as Lio’ah exerted her will.

It worked–the Sith straightened and said, almost confused, “The equipment is malfunctioning, and…needs repairs. Of course.” before turning and departing, presumably to find someone who could repair the nonexistent faults in the console.

As soon as the sound of his footsteps vanished, Lio’ah dropped her disinterested pretense and slammed the controls keeping Kira in place, arms held out as soon as her feet touched the floor. They clung to one another with the kind of desperation that came from being lost at sea, and having just found a light to guide them home.

“You  _jerk_ , you scared me to death–”

“I know, I’m sorry, I had to pretend–”

“It’s fine.” Kira told her, but knew her apprehension was thinly-veiled at best, and Lio’ah’s arched brow said she was nothing short of unconvinced.

“You said it like a liar.” Lio’ah teased, though the tone held more weight than it might’ve normally, and part of Kira deflated.

“Yeah, I know I did.” Kira rubbed the back of her neck and said, “We should get out of here first. Like, now.”

“Right.” Lio’ah poked her head out of the doorway and seemed to be thinking of where to go. “I think the hangar is this way.”

“ _Did_  that console need repairs?” Kira waved a hand weakly at the console Lio’ah had been standing at earlier, and had apparently convinced the attending Sith that it was in dire need of fixing.

Without a word, Lio’ah drew her lightsaber, activated it, and slammed it down the middle of the console before calmly putting it away.

“It does now.” Lio’ah said primly as she began to walk away.

Kira’s heart felt lighter than it had in months.“You’re terrible.”

“You love it.”

“I love  _you_.”

* * *

Every inch of Corellia was a battleground, as much with words as with a lightsaber.

Word that Corellia’s executives had either been coerced or simply agreed to hand the entire planet over to the Empire was really just par for the course with the way their missions had been going since the start, Kira thought. Why should it start to get easy now?

Right now, though, she and Lio’ah were on a different kind of mission, and Kira could feel the tension in Lio’ah’s arm where it was linked with hers as they moved through the main Republic base at Axial Park, searching for the briefing area they’d been directed to when Lio asked.

“Nervous?” Kira asked as they walked, lending Lio’ah her  _mostly_  quiet support.

“No.”

Kira poked her in the ribs and Lio’ah laughed a little in response. “You said it like a liar.”

“I know,” Lio’ah admitted, tightening her arm where it was linked with Kira’s, and Kira tightened her own in response before they both relented, “I  _am_  nervous, but…not for the reasons I thought I’d be.”

“How so?”

“It’s been over ten years since I’ve seen her last.” Lio’ah got a distant look in her eye that Kira had seen off-and-on for the past several days leading up to this one, as soon as they’d heard about who  _else_  would be on Corellia for the war effort. “And after everything I’ve done, everything I’ve been through–I’m definitely not the same person she’s going to remember.”

“I doubt she’s the same either.” Kira pointed out. “Turning your life around a full hundred-and-eighty degrees can do that to you.”

Lio’ah didn’t reply, but some of the ambient tension in the air bled away, and they continued to walk until they reached a briefing area that a discussion was still clearly taking place in.

“…the Guardian Holds still in the First Son’s control,” came a woman’s voice, faintly accented like Lio’ah’s was, but more prominent, “that needs to be our biggest priority, but I only have a few leads to follow up on.”

“We’ll see what else we can uncover while you begin, Master.” one of the Republic soldiers told her, and his helmet turned to acknowledge Lio’ah and Kira in the doorway, nodding a little. “It looks as though you have some visitors, Master Jedi, but we’ll begin compiling a list of target locations for you within the hour.”

“Very good, thank you.” the woman, clad in a faded, dark blue tunic with steely-gray hair drifting about her shoulders, leaned back from a holographic projection table, and turned around. Kira let go of Lio’ah’s arm, and Lio’ah let it fall without comment.

Kira could  _feel_  the moment Master Zalo and Lio’ah recognized who the other was–there was a wave of relief and joy so intense it seemed to brighten the whole room for a split second before it cleared, but Kira’s throat tightened anyway.

Master Ismali Zalo looked every inch the stately Jedi master, with her long robes and simple circlet, but there were signs she was no stranger to war, as well–her face weathered by time, hair turned steely-gray with age, and a long scar across her face all proved it. There was an undeniable peace to her as well, a certainty, that said she had taken many long steps to strike a balance between the two.

“Lio?” Master Zalo took one step forward, one hand carefully stretched out as if she wasn’t entirely sure it really  _was_  her. “Lio’ah?”

Master Zalo’s pronunciation of Lio’ah’s name was subtly different, but Kira had a feeling that was more to do with the accent than anything else. Lio’ah took that same hesitant step forward, hands wringing now Kira’s arm wasn’t linked with hers to provide support, and even without seeing it, Kira could hear Lio’ah’s grin, wavering slightly, as she said, “It’s…been a long time, Aunt Mali.”

With a few quick strides Master Zalo closed the distance between them and swept Lio’ah into a hug so tight Kira could hear the faint sob be squeezed out of her. When Master Zalo leaned back, Kira could see tears swimming in her sunset-red-orange eyes. “My brave and beautiful girl, you’ve come  _so far_.” Master Zalo laughed a little, and tugged on Lio’ah’s armored gauntlets. “Not so much a girl anymore, though, hmm?”

“Mali,” Lio’ah blurted out, “I’m sorry I didn’t try to find you–”

Kira groaned. “ _Lio,_  you promised you weren’t going to apologize for that.”

“I know, I know I did, but–”

“No.” Ismali interjected firmly, redirecting Lio’ah’s attention. “I think both of us needed to find our own way in the Jedi, and while I’m sorry you had to start your journey alone,” Ismali’s gaze shifted over to Kira, who grinned, “it seems like you’re less alone now than you were before. Lio’ah–I am so  _proud_  of you.”

Lio’ah crumpled, and Ismali–because it seemed just  _wrong_  to think of someone who obviously, genuinely loved Lio’ah as much as she did as ‘Master Zalo’–folded Lio’ah back into her arms, the world-worn assassin and not-so-young knight, the only family the other had left in the world. Kira almost felt as if she was intruding, and was about to look away when Lio’ah’s voice drew her back.

“Aunt Mali,” Lio’ah gestured for Kira to come up, and she did, linking her arm through Lio’s again now that the  _big_  reunion seemed to be out of the way, “this is Kira. We’ve been traveling together almost since Tython and we’re, uh–” Lio’ah seemed to flounder for a term to describe them, and Kira would’ve found it funny if she didn’t struggle with the same thing. They’d never really put a  _term_  to ‘them’ before–they simply  _were_.

“We’re partners.” Lio’ah said at last, and Kira couldn’t have put it better. “We’re together.”

“Lio’s all right, I guess.” Kira teased, and Lio’ah shoved her lightly, but with their arms linked, she didn’t go far.

And, provided  _something_  went according to plan for once, Kira didn’t particularly plan to go far for the foreseeable future, either. This, right here, was right where she wanted to be.

Well, maybe not in the middle of a warzone, Kira thought, but, you know. Gotta take what you can get, right?

* * *

Later, much later, when Corellia was behind them and Dromund Kaas loomed ahead, Lio’ah and Kira sat up in Lio’ah’s bed while Kira braided her hair again–ever since Uphrades, it’d been a habit that neither of them particularly wanted to break.

“Doing okay?” Kira asked as she finished Lio’ah’s braid.

“Just fine.”

“You said it like a liar.”

Lio’ah laughed a little, but it was emptier. “I don’t know if I can be ready for this, but…I’m as ready as I’m going to get.”

“You’d better not try to pull any dumb self-sacrificial garbage when we get there,” Kira jabbed a finger into Lio’ah’s back to make her point, “because I’ll be seriously ticked off if I have to come rescue you.”

Lio’ah snorted. “Is that so?”

“Just telling it like it is.” Kira wrapped her arms around Lio’ah’s ribs instead this time, and rested her cheek against the back of Lio’ah’s shoulder. “You’d better come back, hero.”

Lio’ah held Kira’s hands where they linked over her stomach. “I promise I will.”

She’d said it easily, and Lio’ah’s promises were one of the few things Kira was willing to take on faith, but Kira couldn’t help but poke Lio’ah in the ribs anyway with a muttered quip about her unnecessarily dramatic heroics. Wouldn’t be a surprise if the whole mission went south somehow.

Not that Kira was worried. Lio’ah was, after all, an abysmal liar.


End file.
